


The Bonds That Tie

by Nertl



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Requited Unrequited Love, everyone should have a barry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 16:45:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14675250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nertl/pseuds/Nertl
Summary: “Aw man, you know you love me.”And there, at two o'clock on a Thursday morning, Dan is hit with the realization that yeah, he kinda does.





	The Bonds That Tie

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first Game Grumps fic, even though I've been in the fandom for three years. Guess I just finally worked up the nerve to actually post something... Hope you like!

Surprisingly, it wasn't Arin who found out first.

Now, years later when Dan looks back, it was almost underwhelming when he first realized. It had been a day just like the numerous before spent at the office with hour after hour slipping away in front of some video game. Dan and Arin's microphone chemistry had seemed to hit new heights recently, something Dan had been afraid would never happen when he had been asked to be Not So Grump, but there had been no need to worry.

Jokes were being flung back and forth with such ease that Dan would regularly forget that they were filming, and after an unannounced agreement, both Dan and Arin decided to keep going after everyone else had left to keep the amazing energy alive. But then as the night got later and the caffeine refused to work as well as it should, Dan caught himself staring more at Arin than the video game. The younger man's facial expressions were more interesting than the crappy piece of shit they were playing as a one off. That's all.

Which, when Dan unwillingly turns back to it, he sees that Arin had barely even progressed. He laughs, calling Arin out on his unproductive backtracking, and Arin just huffs, building up an angry persona before he also chuckles. It was too late to argue, so Arin just shrugs tiredly and gives a quick glance to Dan.

“Aw man, you know you love me.”

And there, at two o'clock on a Thursday morning, Dan is hit with the realization that yeah, he kinda does.

A 'huh' noise escapes Dan without him noticing, and Arin looks at him curiously, and starts going back to the room he had just left believing that he had missed something, but Dan just dazedly shakes his head, “No no, dude. You're fine. It's... It's fine.”

And he mentally corrects himself that no, it's not fine, but it'll be okay. Because suddenly everything makes sense. It was like his whole life had been leading up to this one epiphany on this grungy couch playing some stupid video game with this wonderful man.

He’s gotta say, he’s a little thrown.

And when he was younger he hated being surprised, enjoying a detailed plan with a noticeable goal instead, probably a byproduct of his OCD, but he doesn’t hate this. Being in love with Arin just isn’t quite the curve-ball he thought it would be because, maybe, this wasn't such a sudden thing. Maybe this had been something that had just built up overtime, unannounced and unrecognized until this one easy moment where it was revealed. It was something that had been a part of him for so long that he had just naturally grown to accommodate it.

Dan is in love with his best friend, and that's cliché and stupid but also it's wonderful. He knows he should be freaking out, probably going through some sort of gay crisis, but with something that just feels so natural how could he question it? Dan had never really believed in fate, but this moment, right here on this questionably stained couch feels like something predetermined, and who is Dan to argue with that.

He only comes out of his stupor when he notices Arin staring at him confusedly when Dan didn't respond to a joke he made. Raising an eyebrow in concern, Arin notes that the time is well over ten minutes, and he calls for a next time on game grumps. Dan barely gets in a stuttered goodbye before Arin is already stretching and standing up to turn the capture off.

“Dude, I don’t think my back will ever fully straighten out; we’ve been sitting for years,” Arin jokes, and it feels like Dan is hearing him through a tunnel as he tries to consolidate the Arin he knew before the realization and the one he sees now. The task isn’t difficult at all - he’s the same person, and the fact that he always will be makes Dan grin unabashedly.

He’s just so fucking happy right now, so of course Arin should know. Arin needs to understand and enjoy how bright he feels right now. They share everything together, he can’t hold out on something that makes Dan feel like this.

“Hey Ar,” he starts, only distantly noticing the pain in his cheeks from smiling so goddamn much. Arin doesn’t turn from where he’s fiddling with cables and controllers, but he makes a small humming noise of acknowledgment. He’s trying to untangle cables but he’s only managing to make it worse, keeping up a constant stream of curses that is just so Arin. Dan laughs and it feels light and he feels light and despite the darkness in the room there's so much light.

He shifts excitedly on the couch, voicing with barely contained joy: “Yeah, well I, uh, I think there's something that I probably should-”

He’s cut off.

“Shit! Is that the time?” Arin demands in disbelief, catching sight of the clock on the wall. “Fuck dude, Suzy wanted me home at like - well, _now_.”

And then there’s a flurry of movement as Arin starts getting ready to leave and how could he just do that do Dan. How could he make Dan remember what for a moment he had forgotten so readily and blissfully in the face of his own budding happiness. That Arin was already in love, and with someone as beautiful and perfect as Suzy. The cold water that had immediately drenched his excitement is quickly sinking into his bones and heart as he watches Arin bounce around the room.

He doesn’t _know_.

Arin is in a hurry, and he rushes out the door and turns off the lights behind him out of habit, leaving Dan in the dark. He’s frozen to his spot for only a moment before he feels the unexplainable urge to not let Arin out of his sight. Unclenching his fingers from the pillow he hadn’t realized he was gripping so tightly, he stumbles to his feet, racing out of the room while something akin to panic begins to bubble up in his chest. He feels like he created a new bond between them with his realization, and if Arin gets too far from him he’s afraid it’s just going to snap. Dan doesn’t want that to happen, dear god he just can’t let that happen.

All the lights have been turned off in the main room with only the glow of sleeping computers illuminating the large space. Dan finds Arin at the door as he does a last minute check of patting his pockets to make sure he has everything. It’s when Dan wanders up behind him and his hand is already on the doorknob getting ready to leave that he finally hesitates.

“Oh wait man, wasn't there something you wanted to say before? Kinda sounded important.”

And Dan wavers between doing what he wants and doing what he knows is right. It’s the text from Suzy that lights up the phone in Arin’s hand, and the gentle smile on Arin’s face when he looks away and reads it that decides it for him. Dan cracks a smile that feels fake. Arin probably would have noticed if he was paying attention, but it’s more for Dan anyway. Maybe if he goes through the motions he’ll begin to feel it, too.

“Don’t worry about it,” he hears himself say.

Arin still isn't looking at him, patting down his pockets, once more checking for his keys. “You sure?” he says absently.

“Yeah, yeah. It's...” and here he stumbles in his facade, enough so that Arin looks up in concern. Dan feels the bond connecting them tighten and why can’t he do anything to stop this. Arin opens his mouth then to say something, lips forming what looks to be the syllables of his name, when his phone dings again. That personal alert sound that meant it was from Suzy and Suzy only.

Arin turns away from Dan to look at the phone.

“It's nothing” Dan mutters, head down so he doesn’t have to see that smile anymore. “Absolutely nothing.”

He hears the sounds of keys jingling in a lock before he hears Arin's voice, “Alright then, if you're sure. Gotta go. It's not nice to keep the lady waiting.”

Then he laughs, closing the door behind him with a quiet click that is so at odds to the loud heartbeat drumming in Dan’s ears. Dan stands in the dark, empty office, hand clenched to his chest as he feels the bond stretch as Arin goes further and further away from him, towards the one he actually loves.

He wishes the bond would just break. But it doesn't. It never does.

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to harass me on Tumblr, my gg side blog is avispaniels.tumblr.com


End file.
